A Birthday Trip without a Birthday - 2/16: Conclusion and Bonus Birthday Tea

[lovealldisney]

I think you should dress up as Martin Luther for MNSSHP, and nail a list of demands to the door of the castle. See what happens!

I think you should to!!

You are right Halloween is NOT a European Holiday !! One year shortly after I cane to the States , my mother had 2 little American kids who were renting in the area, knock at her door all dressed up as goblins as she put it !!Having no idea what they were she chased them with a broomA day or so later she got a letter from me talking about Halloween and Trick or Treating and felt sooo bad !!!I can only imagine the tales those kids have told about the WITCH who chased them with a Broom!!~!

I about fell off my chair with this Rosie!!

 

[All7OfUs]

I think you should dress up as Martin Luther for MNSSHP, and nail a list of demands to the door of the castle. See what happens!

Too funny!! Wouldn't that be hoot!

Ladies! I"m so excited for you to get to do this! Since I was aced out of my party last year, I'll have to experience it through you and all your pictures!! Halfway through should be a GREAT time to do it! Will you sort of take it easy in the morning then, and not do a park until the party??

 

[Flossbolna]

You will LOVE MNSSHP! We really enjoyed it last year. Be sure to catch the parade.

Thanks! I am really excited about the party.

Hi Magdalene!

Yes Halloween is a very American holiday! One of my favorites! Where we live Halloween is rarely celebrated on the 31st (as it should be!) this is because there's school. Most communities have it on a weekend with trick or treating during the day. But the suburb my Mother-in-law lives in they have Halloween on the 31st and night time trick or treating! My kids loved this and still do, I have one girl inparticular that is almost 15 that still goes to grandmas to trick or treat.....


Even a certain DH dresses up and passes out treats..... He makes a great scary clown.

I love the thought of your DH as a scary clown! I think trick and treating is a very lovely tradition, and I understand why a 15-year-old still enjoys it! I am getting excited about doing it during the MNSSHP!

I think you should dress up as Martin Luther for MNSSHP, and nail a list of demands to the door of the castle. See what happens!

Hmmm, I have been reading too much about the WDW of yesteryear, so a few things would definitely come to mind about what to demand... I guess I would start with bringing back the Dreamfinder to Journey into Imagination...

 

[Flossbolna]

Oh, I just noticed that Mickey's foot is already in the next picture of my ticker!!

You are right Halloween is NOT a European Holiday !! One year shortly after I cane to the States , my mother had 2 little American kids who were renting in the area, knock at her door all dressed up as goblins as she put it !!Having no idea what they were she chased them with a broomA day or so later she got a letter from me talking about Halloween and Trick or Treating and felt sooo bad !!!I can only imagine the tales those kids have told about the WITCH who chased them with a Broom!!~!

Rosie, what a wonderful story!!

It was a shock to hear that you celebrate Mardi Gras! I'm from New Orleans so it would be quite intresting for me to hear more about that. Do you have parades,throw beads and have kings and queens? Ours last for about three weeks. I just love when you give bits of history and let us know about Germany

Well, it varies regionally and I did not grow up in one of the strongholds of this tradition. But it is celebrated nation wide, just to various degrees. Most famous are the cities along the Rhine and Main river, especially Mainz, Cologne, Düsseldorf. The season starts officially at 11:11 am on November, 11, but only really takes off in January with costume balls and then the highlight is the period from Thursday until Shrove Tuesday. It is called Karneval or Fasching in Germany. The Thursday before the weekend is called "Weiberfasching" which means women's carnival. On that day women are allowed to clip any tie worn by the men with sissors. There are several parades (on various days) in different cities with pretty big floats. But no beads. Instead they throw candy to the watchers. Every city has a prince and a princess, but especially in Cologne it is lead by three people: prince, farmer and virgin. There are all kind of carnival societies which have meetings making fun speeches and giving out medals.

To a large extent carnival is about making fun of the authorities. It was always considered a time where it was ok to make fun of the king without having to fear repercussions. And it gained a lot of strength in the Rhine area when this area was put under Prussian rule after it had been independent before.

I think it is very much a catholic tradition and I guess the French brought it to New Orleans, so that must be the connection to the catholic areas in Germany.

Ladies! I"m so excited for you to get to do this! Since I was aced out of my party last year, I'll have to experience it through you and all your pictures!! Halfway through should be a GREAT time to do it! Will you sort of take it easy in the morning then, and not do a park until the party??

I was thinking of you when we started planning this because you were so disappointed that you did not get to go to a party. I am sure that we will have a lot of fun!!

We will spend some time at Epcot in the morning, but otherwise the plan is perhaps DTD or pool time. We will see what we are in a mood for. We don't have any ADR for that day, so we don't have to be anywhere at a certain time.

 

[Poolrat]

I am beyond help !!!!!

I have had only one "lost cause" and that was a little girl who needed to remain 10 feet away from me at all times. I could not hold her or get close enough for to see anything i was demonstrating much less have her hear me so i did tell teh parent we may want to wait a while until she gets over that phase. It still bothers me that I could not get her swimming on her own even with her ultra special needs. I can break most tough nuts but she would not come close enough for me to try.

Pat, I am very fascinated by what you are writing about how to teach how to swim (also your following post).

I had always been a strong swimmer, learned swimming when I was five, even was in the diving group of the local swim club when I was 8 (but then we moved away and today I am scared to even jump head first from the starting block). But the one thing I never really tackled was swimming front crawl (here in Germany everyone learns breast stroke first). I just was out of breath all the time.

That is so right - we do teach front crawl first and I did know in Germany it was the breaststroke.

Then a few years ago I signed up for a course on front crawl at the local adult evening education center. And there our teacher had us practising breathing for the first session only, nearly no swimming. It was such a revelation. I never had had Katharina's problem, but neither had I figured out that I had to breath out all the air in my lungs before getting new air in. I am still getting out of breath when I use front crawl, but now it is because of the exercise. I am so much looking forward to my local open air pool with its 50m adult pool being reopened (it is being totally rebuilt at the moment) to practise again, it substitutes for running on very hot days!

Breath control is a big issue. You almost need to be as relaxed in the water as you are on land. I used to have a HUGE issue with water going up my nose so I had to learn that at age 10 so I feel since I have had that experience, I can help others who also have the problem a bit better since I really had to "learn" it myself at an older age.

You are right Halloween is NOT a European Holiday !! One year shortly after I cane to the States , my mother had 2 little American kids who were renting in the area, knock at her door all dressed up as goblins as she put it !!Having no idea what they were she chased them with a broomA day or so later she got a letter from me talking about Halloween and Trick or Treating and felt sooo bad !!!I can only imagine the tales those kids have told about the WITCH who chased them with a Broom!!~!

My mother carried a Halloween bag with "Happy Halloween " and a witch on it well past Halloween. She recalls getting some snickers about it. She had no idea it was a Holiday bag, she just liked the artwork.

 

[jenjolt]

You know I might know of someone who is also going to be at the Sunday Oct. 16th MNSSHP...there might have to be a meet involved

You will love the party!! It is FANTABULOUS!! I always always look forward to it!!!!!

 

[3prettyprincesses]

Oh my goodness Magdalene! I thought I'd subscribed to this thread but obviously I didn't. Now I have to catch up...

Wow, the DLP pictures of Main Street are very similar to Orlando, aren't they. What a gorgeous park it must be, I can't wait to see more!

I didn't realize Halloween was unique to America! It makes perfect sense why you and Katharina would want to participate in Mickey's Not So Scary Party. This will be your first time then? You'll love it! There is something very exciting and magical about being in the MK when it's closed off to other guests and decorated for Halloween! I think it's wise too to go on Sunday half way through your trip. It'll be something to look forward to at the beginning and then you'll still have half your trip to enjoy after you've gone.

 

[englishrose47]

Gotta give this a BUMP!!!!

 

[brookelizabeth]

I am here and finally caught up!!! I am so excited for you two!!! I hope you love the Boardwalk. I know you'll enjoy the walk/boat rides to the parks-that is such a nice bonus!

I am LOVING your DLP pictures...they make me want to go even more! I didn't realize it was all connected to Paris via public transit either. I love that! WHEN we go, we'll surely just stay right at DLP and take advantage of all Paris has to offer. Oh, how I can dream...

It's amazing how much Main Street resembles WDW's too. And, I'm sure this was asked-but I skipped the chatter, what does Casey's at DLP sell? Are the beloved corn dog nuggets anywhere in the park?!?! ()

 

[eandesmom]

I love your special features/trips! I've never been to BB but it's high on the kids list of things to do and I would love love to go to MNSSHP

 

[Flossbolna]

That is so right - we do teach front crawl first and I did know in Germany it was the breaststroke.

I just wonder how this works? With breaststroke you have the option of always keeping your head out of water, but with front crawl you need to put it into the water? It seems also more difficult to coordinate to me, but that might just be because I was taught the other way around?

My mother carried a Halloween bag with "Happy Halloween " and a witch on it well past Halloween. She recalls getting some snickers about it. She had no idea it was a Holiday bag, she just liked the artwork.

Funny story!

You know I might know of someone who is also going to be at the Sunday Oct. 16th MNSSHP...there might have to be a meet involved

You will love the party!! It is FANTABULOUS!! I always always look forward to it!!!!!

Oh, that's an interesting piece of information!! And wonderful news that you get to go again! I am really looking forward to the party - especially to all the candy!

Oh my goodness Magdalene! I thought I'd subscribed to this thread but obviously I didn't. Now I have to catch up...

Wow, the DLP pictures of Main Street are very similar to Orlando, aren't they. What a gorgeous park it must be, I can't wait to see more!

I didn't realize Halloween was unique to America! It makes perfect sense why you and Katharina would want to participate in Mickey's Not So Scary Party. This will be your first time then? You'll love it! There is something very exciting and magical about being in the MK when it's closed off to other guests and decorated for Halloween! I think it's wise too to go on Sunday half way through your trip. It'll be something to look forward to at the beginning and then you'll still have half your trip to enjoy after you've gone.

I could have sworn that I saw you on this thread already?? But great to have you!

DLP Main Street was supposed to be a copy of Orlando, but they managed to get some things done differently. And we haven't even scratched the surface of the prettyness of DLP yet...

We are really looking forward to the Halloween Party! I have been to one Pirate and Princess Party which was fun, but we did not get any candy then... So Halloween is new to us. When we were at DLP in 2007 they had started putting up their Halloween decorations and they were a lot of fun and I am looking forward to seeing the MK's.

 

[Flossbolna]

Gotta give this a BUMP!!!!

Thanks!!

I am here and finally caught up!!! I am so excited for you two!!! I hope you love the Boardwalk. I know you'll enjoy the walk/boat rides to the parks-that is such a nice bonus!

I am LOVING your DLP pictures...they make me want to go even more! I didn't realize it was all connected to Paris via public transit either. I love that! WHEN we go, we'll surely just stay right at DLP and take advantage of all Paris has to offer. Oh, how I can dream...

It's amazing how much Main Street resembles WDW's too. And, I'm sure this was asked-but I skipped the chatter, what does Casey's at DLP sell? Are the beloved corn dog nuggets anywhere in the park?!?! ()

Hi Brook, great to see you again! I guess your life is pretty busy now that you are back at a job.

Oh, we are so excited about the Boardwalk, we enjoyed walking to the parks at DLP and talked about how wonderful it will be to just walk to Epcot and DHS!

While there is public transport from DLP to Paris, I would not recommend staying at DLP for visiting Paris. It is still a 40 minute train ride. I guess a bit like staying in a hotel in New Jersey when you want to see the sights in Manhattan. But WHEN you start planning your trip to Paris, I will be happy to help with more detailed suggestions on how to plan such a trip!

Casey's sells normal hot dogs, no corn dog nuggets anywhere in DLP. I think there might be one location selling corn dogs (not nuggets), but I am not sure. When we were there for the first time in 1995 they had really great counter service food which was themed appropriately. There is a Deli on Main Street which had wonderful club sandwiches with pickle spear. Now they sell the French version of the grilled cheese sandwhich: Croque Monsieur. There are still some places which sell "themed" food, but generally the offerings are rather bland.

I love your special features/trips! I've never been to BB but it's high on the kids list of things to do and I would love love to go to MNSSHP

Thanks Cynthia! The waterparks and the party make me really excited about the trip. I think I am starting to get to a point where I have experienced the big rides often enough that I am looking for new things to see and do.

 

[Flossbolna]

Have a look at our ticker!! In less than 5 months we will be on our way!

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[nodnol]

 

[Flossbolna]

Hey, your ticker is at 4 months 30 days as well! What a coincidence!

 

[englishrose47]

Have a look at our ticker!! In less than 5 months we will be on our way!

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Us too !!In case you haven't seen the joint PTR There is gonna now be 2 Groups going in October !!!! Soooo you can meet 20 of us !!!

 

[Flossbolna]

Us too !!In case you haven't seen the joint PTR There is gonna now be 2 Groups going in October !!!! Soooo you can meet 20 of us !!!

No, I haven't seen your new PTR yet! Must go and find it. Wow, two groups!

 

[Poolrat]

I just wonder how this works? With breaststroke you have the option of always keeping your head out of water, but with front crawl you need to put it into the water? It seems also more difficult to coordinate to me, but that might just be because I was taught the other way around?

The big hurdle is that we do start with the face in the water. we spend so much time on bubbles and floating face down it is sometimes discouraging.

To break it up we also teach backfloating at the same time but that has it own hurdles.

Bubbles, floating, arms and legs and then breathing.

When I teach special needs or Adults as I have said before, I dont follow that path. I figure out what works best for my student.

 

[All7OfUs]

T minus 5 months!!! Getting closer!!

 

[annichan]

Btw, there is a Bellevue Castle in Berlin as well, it is the residence of the German president (the head of state, but just in name, the government is lead by the chancellor. The president is more like the Queen in the UK and does have only a very tiny political relevance).

Hey Magdalene, I have finally found my way over here to your PTR and still have about 15 pages to catch up to. Really looking forward to reading about all you have planned (especially since I am seriously thinking about spending my 40th birthday at WDW as well, even though I still have two and a half years to go until then), and also about your visit to DLP.
Until then, however, I shall content myself with picturing our president as the Queen .